Back in September we got our first look at Christian Bale’s audition for Batman Begins, with Bale sporting Val Kilmer’s Batman Forever Batsuit, as well as a much more restrained Batgrowl, especially compared to what we got by the latter stages of The Dark Knight Trilogy. Now Bale has spoken about the audition process during a promotional interview with MTV for his next film Out of the Furnace, as well as revealing the reason why he adopted such a gravelly voice.
“I got there. They put me in Val Kilmer’s suit. It didn’t even fit properly, and I stood in it and I went ‘I feel like an idiot.’ What kind of guy walks around, dressed like a bat? And is then going to go ‘Hello, how are you? Just ignore that I’m dressed as a bat.’ Of course, he’s meant to be doing this. If you look at the history of the guy and the pain that he went through. I went ‘I can’t do this in a normal voice. I have to become a beast in order to sell this to myself.'”
And naturally the topic of conversation shifted to Bale’s successor under the cape and cowl, with the actor offering some advice to Ben Affleck before he suits up for Batman vs. Superman: “[The voice] ain’t for everybody. Ben’s obviously going to have to do his own thing, but it was the only way that I could find how to get into that and to justify wearing the fricking Batsuit. Otherwise, he’s just loopy beyond belief. He’s loopy, but he’s loopy with a method to his madness. I wish [Affleck] the best. You look at this kid, Batkid…. That gives the whole point. It doesn’t matter which actor is playing him. He’s a symbol. He’s so much bigger than any actor. That’s all. This little kid, he doesn’t really care which actor’s playing him. It’s the symbol of the whole thing, and that’s what makes the character so fantastic. I look forward to seeing what Ben will do with it.”
Out of the Furnace opens in North America on December 6th and in the UK on January 31st 2014, with Bale joined in the cast by Casey Affleck (Gone Baby Gone), Woody Harrelson (Seven Psychopaths), Zoe Saldana (Star Trek Into Darkness), Willem Dafoe (John Carter), Forest Whitaker (The Butler) and Sam Shepard (Safe House). Meanwhile The Dark Knight will return on July 17th 2015, with Ben Affleck lining up in Batman vs. Superman alongside returning Man of Steel stars Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent) and Lawrence Fishburne (Perry White).
Originally published November 18, 2013. Updated November 28, 2022.
